Frankenstein Turbo

[GWInquisitor14]

Has anyone ever heard of a Frankenstein turbo. Someone was telling me about this thing, a Frankenstein turbo. I guess its like a used turbo you would find at a junk yard then u swap out the internals of a Garrett turbo. It suppose to be a cheap way of having a nice turbo.

[Beyond Imagination]

would a t3/t4 hybrid be considered a frankenstein?

[hotbegel]

frankenstein turbos refer to the engine, not the turbo.

frankenstein is the nickname for an LS block mated to a b series V-TEC head. in theory, it's good for turbo because you retain the longer gearing of the LS tranny, plus the increased displacement, but the all the perks of V-TEC as well.

in my experience from what i've read and seen, it's a great idea if not an unstable combination. most guys i know of who've tried this have had to rebuild the motors a couple of times, but if you're willing to invest the time and money to build it right, there are a couple of companies, one in CA and one in AZ that build some pretty reliable setups.

that's the basic idea, if you have any other specific questions, let me know.

[GWInquisitor14]

Yeah i know what you mean, it also refers to the head swap. But this kid has an MX-6

[hotbegel]

an mx-6? hm. well i see what you're saying, but i mean, if you found some crap turbo in a junkyard, and replaced all the internals, wouldn't it be better to just keep the housings that the internals came out of? you can pay an arm and a leg for all the pieces inside a turbo, to the point where it'd be cheaper to just go and get a new turbo. you should ask the kid who told you about it what he meant specifically.

[GWInquisitor14]

I think its a cost issue. Like i dont know if how easy it is to get these parts, but if you got like a re build kit or something for a Garrett GT series and then an older housing, it might be cheaper because i know those GT turbos cost near $2000

[vtec92civic]

just buy a new turbo, and there you will have a great looking brand new problem free hair dryer :-p

[YellowITR479]

agrees with vtec92civic...i bought a used turbo and the seal went and i ended up spinning a rod a while back

[vtec92civic]

that's the thing is that now days everyone wants to boost, but they all try to do it cheap, and that results in nothing but problems. Yeah I can take $500 a turbo from the junkyard and a bunch of junk parts but:

1. you won't make crap for power
2. you get what you pay for
3. it usualkly results in a bunch of problems.

If you want your car to run properly and treat you well then do the same for it, and do things right the first tim around.

You can find good condition used turbos but it's really hard to tell if the turbo is good until you get it on your car. Someone can easily say yeah the seals are good, and put it on start the car and it leaks oil, and then you are fucked after spending $300 on a t3 turbo now you gota spend another $300 or so to have it rebuilt.

The best things you can do when running turbo is:

1. Get a Good Fuel Setup
2. Get a Decent Manifold
3. Get a good turbo

with those 3 things you'll be golden. get a cheap manifold and the weight of the turbo and heat will crack it.